If you’re confused about the status of Texas’ voter ID law, you have plenty of company

If you’re confused about the status of Texas’ voter ID law, you aren’t alone. To mitigate that statewide confusion, the League of Women Voters here and the San Antonio student chapter of the American Constitution Society will host a forum on “Texas Voter ID Law: Where Are We Today.”

The title isn’t followed by a question mark, but it probably should be.

The forum is set for 6-8 p.m. Sept. 20 at the San Antonio Central Library, and it’s free.

Considered the strictest of all Republican-led efforts to change voting laws in several states, the Texas law allowed only seven specific state-sanctioned photo IDs and was ruled discriminatory toward minorities in intent and effect.

For the Nov. 8 general election, Texans still will need one of those previously sanctioned IDs, or will need to sign an affidavit that they’re U.S. citizens plus show a court-ordered alternate ID. There’s a list of those, including an original birth certificate.

As far as I can tell, voters also will have to cite a “reasonable impediment declaration,” that describes why the voter couldn’t secure one of seven originally approved means of photo identification. There’s list of those “reasonable impediments,” too.

It’s no wonder we’ll need clarity.

The League of Women Voters’ fall kickoff forum will draw on four experts — Bexar County elections administrator Jacquelyn Callanen, St. Mary’s University political scientist Henry Flores, ACLU of Texas attorney Satinder Singh and Express-News Austin Bureau reporter David Saleh Rauf.